How do emotional connections, the home buyer’s psyche and home staging
interplay to help home sale?
That’s a picture of Death Valley, CA - Expansive, rugged, awe inspiring
By the way, the second picture is of me at Death Valley for a trip this December.
What do you think when you see pictures of or experience Death Valley.
What would such a place inspire in you?
It means different things for
different people. But, yes one thing it imbibes is emotions. And by
emotions I don’t mean dramatic emotions! Just plain and simple emotions - a mix
of thought and emotion. We can’t do without emotions no matter where we are.
Let’s understand emotions in the context of home buyers, A BMO
study published in 2013 says that 80 per cent of potential
buyers know if a home is right for them as soon as they step inside.
In a study, Professor Van Lieshout, an experimental psychology
professor at the University of Toronto links the power of emotion to
first impressions. As an example as to how emotions play a role, he cites - a
deficiency in a living area may not be an immediate deal breaker when noticed
by a buyer, but it will often raise emotional suspicions. In due course they
will double-check everything and the buying cycle is somewhat influenced.
Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman says that 95 percent of our
purchase decision making takes place in the subconscious mind. Sights, experiences, smells and
sounds can selectively activate goals or motives that buyers have about a home
they are viewing.
Emotion and
logic hence bundle together to make a home buyer take action. While logic can
be presented with facts such as price, neighborhood quality and core features
of the home (and real estate agents are great at presenting those), Home staging
can directly impact the emotions to help make a strong case for the home. The
interplay of emotional connections and logic affect buying decision of course.
The key
elements of home staging, which a skilled home stager will influence are a mix
of leveraging the home architecture, décor, feel, smells, style and the presentation
of a lifestyle home buyer’s aspire. Some examples come alive in this gallery of
mine.
Here are four
ways to create emotional connections with Home Staging and Home Preparation:
1. Creating a Vision
Prepare the home to make it the home of aspirations coming
alive. A dining table set with wine and candles to come back to. A chicken pot
roast recipe, opened up on a recipe book, a book waiting for its reader in a
window bench with a cup of coffee. All of these directly impact emotions –
warmth, comfort family, relaxation all of it comes alive, doesn’t it? The
vision needs to stand true such that buyers can imagine themselves and their
families in the home not the current family. Hence de-personalizing is a vital
area of Staging.
What’s the home brand in the process of marketing this house?
The moment you start thinking of creating a brand even if it is for the short
duration of the few months of home sale - you start creating emotional purchase
connections to create a brand of this home in the customer’s mind. A brand
which is unique to this home, compared to competition. You do more than sell a
house, you sell the customer the brand.
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| Home Staging Connections |
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| Reading nooks |
2. Creating a brand
The brand is your promise to
your customer. It tells them what they can expect from the home. A brand is a
sum of the tangible and intangible assets this home stands for in the
customer’s mind. Home Staging creates the brand. It personifies the intangible
assets with décor, a natural flow, the right layouts and elegant style
intrinsic to the home strengths, area, architecture. It creates a brand because it leaves an impression behind in the home buyer’s mind.
The brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them
what they can expect from the home. A brand is a sum of the tangible and intangible
assets this home stands for in the customer’s mind. Home Staging creates the
brand. It personifies the intangible assets with décor, a natural flow, the
right layouts and elegant style intrinsic to the home strengths, area,
architecture.
3. Creating focal points
Home Staging will build the customers
emotions and likes towards the strengths of the home. These could be the focal
points, which deserve attention and influence points towards the buying
decision. For instance the fireplace, the French window turned into a reading corner showing
the beautiful view outside, the patio surrounded with entertainment
possibilities.
As
buyers walk through a home a seamless flow can be crated directing their eyes
and thoughts to the right strength. This allows them to walkthrough a layout
which lets them visualize the possibilities vital to strengthen the emotional
connections. A stager with expertise can help create the right layout and
styling to create this natural flow.
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| Natural Flows |
All
in all, emotional connections are a vital strategy to help home sale, of course
bundled with other valuable marketing factors.
Until next time happy
connecting!
Pramiti
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